Tragedy in California: Firefighter Dies Battling Wildfire

It’s been an active wildfire season out West with dozens of large, uncontained wildfires occurring across the region. Some of the largest, most intense of these fires has been in California. In the state, there are currently 11 large wildfires that are active and unontained.

The Ferguson Fire, located near Yosemite National Park, has burnt over 1,000 acres of land so far and is only 5 percent contained. Unfortunately, this fire lead to the death of CAL FIRE Heavy Fire Equipment Operator Braden Varney. According to CAL FIRE, “Braden leaves behind a wife and two small children.”

#FergusonFire@CALFIREMMU lost one of their own this morning. CAL FIRE Heavy Fire Equipment Operator Braden Varney was tragically killed while battling the fire. He leaves behind a wife & two small children. His #CalFire fam says he worked as a firefighter over 10 yrs. 🚒💕 pic.twitter.com/4Ig30ixoaE

It’s been only about a month since the most recent wildfire-related death in California. The Klamathon Fire near the California-Oregon border was responsible for the death of an unidentified person on Thursday, June 6.

Jackson is Head of Content at WeatherOptics and produces several forecasts and manages all social media platforms. Previously, Jackson forecasted local weather for southwestern Connecticut, founding his website, Jackson's Weather, in the March of 2015. He is currently studying Meteorology and Broadcast Journalism at the University of Miami.